Two hundred and twenty kilometres, and a police filter at the end
The journey is long but simple: motorway into Liguria, then down to the gulf of Tigullio. What makes it particular is the last three kilometres, and that rests on an official text rather than on an impression.
Ordinance 36 of 17 February 2026 from the Città Metropolitana di Genova, which owns and manages the road, sets a traffic filter on the SP227 at kilometre 5+000, from 14 March to 1 November 2026. The mechanism is written down: the queue of waiting vehicles is held at Cervara, in the commune of Santa Margherita Ligure, during the day, and the filter is then moved into the built-up centre of Portofino in the evening and at night.
It is not a traffic light and not chance. It is a scheme switched on and off by the Portofino local police command, in liaison with the Santa Margherita Ligure command. Knowing that changes how an arrival time is announced.
What the ordinance says about chauffeur-driven cars
This point deserves to be read in the text, because several guides draw the opposite conclusion. The ordinance provides that the filter always guarantees transit for public transport, emergency vehicles and authorised vehicles, and the text explicitly names taxis and hire cars with driver among the eased categories.
In other words, the scheme targets the queue of private cars looking for a parking space in Portofino or Paraggi. It does not close the road to a chauffeur-driven car dropping a client and leaving.
A second point deserves the same rigour. A municipal ordinance of June 2023 imposed limits of six metres in length and 2.30 m in width on that road. The regional administrative court annulled it, for lack of an opinion from the road’s owner. So we do not cite it as a rule in force, unlike many car hire sites. What does remain, and is verifiable, is the official transit authorisation request form published by the commune for vehicles of unusual size.
The Italian motorway is not the hard part
The concession holder for the Savona-Ventimiglia motorway section publishes its closure status. As at 14 August 2026, for the France direction, the Italy direction and the Albenga, Sanremo and Ventimiglia variants, the wording is identical: no closures scheduled.
That helps place the risk where it belongs. The Italian motorway leg is not the fragile element; the hard part is at the end, on a provincial road of a few kilometres shared between two communes, which the official page runs from kilometre 2+010 to 7+710.
That leaves the border. France reinstated checks until 31 October 2026: every passenger must be able to show a valid identity document. The fare covers tolls in both countries and does not vary with the time spent at the filter.